WASHINGTON, DC—PFLAG National—the nation’s largest organization uniting families, allies, and people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ)—today spoke out following the 217-213 U.S. House of Representatives vote to repeal the ACA.

PFLAG National Interim Executive Director Elizabeth Kohm said, “Each one of us has an individual story about why access to health care is so important, deeply personal and, for too many, can involve pain, grief, and anxiety. For the LGBTQ community, their families, and people living with HIV and AIDS, if the ACA replacement passes in the Senate and is signed into law it would raise out-of-pocket costs, penalize preexisting conditions, threaten Medicaid, punish the poor, and risk outright failure of people receiving much-needed treatment and services. We hope that the Senate demonstrates that it values at-risk communities more overtly and will continue this fight for our healthcare and lives. PFLAG members and supporters across the country will continue to voice our concerns and remind our elected officials that access to health care is not politics for us, but deeply personal and can be a matter of life and death.”

To learn more about PFLAG National’s advocacy work, visit pflagchapters.wpenginepowered.com/wherewestand.

PFLAG is the nation’s largest organization uniting families, allies, and people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer. PFLAG is committed to advancing equality through its mission of support, education, and advocacy, and has more than 400 chapters and 200,000 supporters crossing multiple generations of American families in major urban centers, small cities, and rural areas in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. To learn more, visit pflagchapters.wpenginepowered.com.